Digby's Hullabaloo Posts

Josh Marshall notes that even though the Democrats are now hugely enthused about the election, the naysayers who wanted Biden to drop out are still unhappy:

[A]lready we’re hearing that this rush of support for Harris is yet another bad thing. Democrats have only just changed the last terrible thing pundits said they were doing only to be told that their solution is also a disaster in the making or at least a mistake. I don’t want to pick on anyone but this piece by Graeme Wood seems to capture this whole new storyline. In a way the argument is just a continuation of the Thunderdome craze of the last six months: a contested convention, blitz primaries, and the like. The new terrible mistake is rallying around Kamala Harris too quickly. Because this just compounds what Wood and seemingly many other pundits and columnists feel is the belief that “Democratic politics felt like a game rigged by insiders to favor a candidate of their choice, and to isolate that candidate from the risk associated with campaigning.”

I wish I understood this reflex to stomp all over Democratic hopes from pundits who claim to be liberals. And why they want this Mad Max run to the convention I will never understand. It just makes no sense to me that they are determined to turn the process into a circus when Orange Hitler is on the ballot. Luckily it looks like Harris will have enough delegates pledged to her before the early virtual vote on August 7th so this will soon be put to rest.

As Marshall says:

The point is that it’s what Democrats really seem to want – even those who were bitterly opposed to seeing Biden pushed off the ticket and most who might have had questions about Harris as a candidate. What a political community actually seems to want, expressed through the mechanisms of the political process, somehow isn’t quite good enough for these commentators. They are demanding that they slow down, compel a few rising star governors to declare their candidacies and duke it out for a month. They’re in love with forms and visual contests and look on actual politics when it presents itself with something that looks a lot like contempt.

[…]

[B]eneath this seeming appetite to let politics run its course in all its ferality is something quite different: It’s a kind of disdain for actual voters and how actual politics works – not always pretty, mixed with peoples overweening ambitions, their intense loves and fears, and all the rest. If Democrats want to get behind Kamala Harris, stop fighting with each other, stop watching the unmerited pain of an aging leader most of them respect and even love, and get on to running a campaign against a menacing adversary … well, that’s just fine. They don’t have anything to prove to folks who write for a living.

President Biden calls in during Vice President Harris’ remarks: “I’m watching ya, kid. I love ya.”

💙 pic.twitter.com/M1dOFR8bqa

— Kamala HQ (@KamalaHQ) July 23, 2024

The contrast between both of these people and that Orange Monster is just so profound.

Did you know about this? It’s outrageous. But I think they’re quite serious. Or at least JD Vance is, and there is a very good reason to believe he will be president if they win the election in November, either in the next term if Trump finally collapses or the one beyond. (If you think elections will still be operative at that point you’re dreaming.)

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Josh Marshall has the story:

This spring, HHS finalized new regulations under HIPAA to limit law enforcement access to medical records tied to reproductive health. The rule was first proposed in the aftermath of the Dobbs decision as a way to limit the ability of state and local law enforcement agencies to access medical records to stymie or criminalize access to legal reproductive health services, most specifically abortions, but not only abortions. It also applies to contraception and the full range of other endangered reproductive care.

So for instance, consider the ability of a woman from an abortion-ban state to travel to another state to get a legal abortion, or her ability to receive legal abortion drugs through the mail. The news has been filled with proposed or actual laws which would attempt to restrict travel to receive abortions in other states, charge those who travel or criminalize those who might facilitate such travel or facilitate the legal shipment of prescribed abortion drugs through the mail. Of course, local police agencies might simply take it upon themselves to pull records to see who had unexplained disruptions to their menstrual cycles.

Your local sheriff might just want to know.

And so does JD Vance, it turns out.

But to enforce these laws or know when there’s something to enforce you really need access to medical records. You need to know and be able to prove when a woman was pregnant and then, before the end of normal gestation, stopped being pregnant. So if you live in Texas and you’re pregnant, can you go to your OB-GYN or will that be held against you if you’re found to have ceased being pregnant after a visit to Kansas? Does your OB have to report you to law enforcement if they believe there’s a real and present risk that you’ll go out of state to get an abortion or seek a prescription from an out of state doctor for mifepristone? And what about contraception, which some states are now also making moves to limit? Or how about IVF? This was the context of the HHS rule which was proposed in spring of 2023 and came into effect this spring. It applies to all of those questions.

Now when this rule was first proposed back in 2023, a group of 28 members of Congress wrote to HHS Secretary Xavier Becerra demanding he withdraw the proposed rule “immediately.” (I was reminded of this letter when I saw this write up this morning.) They argued that the proposed rule “unlawfully thwarts the enforcement of compassionate laws” and “creates special protections for abortion that limit cooperation with law enforcement, undermine the ability to report abuse, restrict the provision of public health information … erase the humanity of unborn children” and “interfere with valid state laws protecting life.”

Now, I said 28 members of Congress. That’s not very many. You’ll remember there are 535 of them, or which 100 are senators. Vance was one of only eight Republican senators willing to go this hard for menstrual surveillance by state law enforcement agencies. The other 20 signatories are members of the House and a quick review of the names shows they are mostly hardcore Freedom Caucus types. But think about it: even in the House GOP caucus, they could only get 20 people to sign this thing. That’s how extreme it is. But JD Vance signed.

I don’t know what Vance really believes and judging from his abrupt change of beliefs in the last few years, I suspect he doesn’t believe in much. But this interview with his college roommate was very interesting. He thinks Vance is a very, very angry guy filled with resentment. And it’s pretty clear from his rhetoric that his anger is directed largely at women.

He’s a very dangerous man.

Vance’s stump has got a nice Jeb Bush quality to it. And I mean that in the worst way possible.

The lone, singular clap at the end is just 👩🏽‍🍳👌🏽 https://t.co/5Zdb1zimZ1

— Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (@AOC) July 22, 2024

That was a very bad speech. It turns out he’s not very good at this. Imagine that.

I wrote the other day that Trump made a mistake in picking him, largely because he thought he had it in the bag and was listening to his offspring, Tweedle dee and Tweedle dumb. But I assumed he was at least competent as a MAGA politician. But I guess that was wrong…

They are threatening to file all kinds of lawsuits to contest dropping Biden from the ballot. Of course, Biden isn’t on the ballot because there is no ballot yet. And what are they talking about? People drop out of races all the time!

Election expert Rich Hasen explains why they are full of it legally:

With news of President Joe Biden’s withdrawal from the presidential race, some Republicans are claiming he cannot be removed from the presidential ballot in November and that in any case it is undemocratic to do so. The first claim is legally unsupported and the second one is ludicrous. I fully expect the Democrats’ legitimate nominees for president and vice president to be listed on the ballot in November.

Let’s start with the legal issue. The premise of the argument that Biden cannot be “removed” from the ballot is that he’s already “on” the ballot for president. He’s not.

When it comes to which candidates are listed on the general election ballot for president, states set their own rules. Typically, the rules provide that after each recognized political party has had its convention or otherwise gone through its process of choosing a nominee, the party must transmit that information to the states by a certain date so that ballots and other election materials can be prepared.The video player is currently playing an ad.00:11Skip Ad

Joe Biden has not yet been nominated to be president even though he had racked up enough delegates at the upcoming Democratic National Convention to have had an easy time getting the official nomination had he stayed in the race. He was only the presumptive nominee, not the official nominee—nobody is, until there’s a vote. So Biden need not be replaced, because he was never the official candidate.

To the extent that there’s even the hint of a legal issue, it’s not over whether it’s Biden or someone else who is the Democrats’ nominee, but about the timing of choosing the official nominee. The key is that nomination happens in time to get the candidate on the ballot in each state. For instance, Ohio originally had a ballot deadline that was before the Democratic National Convention, leading to a risk that no Democratic nominee would be listed on the ballot in that state. Ohio changed its law to a later deadline to accommodate the late convention. As I explained at Election Law Blog, there’s a hypertechnical argument that Ohio could still contend that a nomination coming from Democrats after their convention would be too late. This was the purported reason Democrats were going to do an early virtual roll-call vote to choose Biden. (I think the real reason for an early roll call was for partisans to lock Biden in, not to avoid litigation.)

Any litigation to keep Biden off the Ohio ballot would be extremely unlikely to succeed because Ohio has committed to the later date and transmitted that later date to local election officials. Everyone is relying on that and so Ohio would not be able to just change its mind, any more than any other Republican state could try to retroactively change the ballot access rules. Further, courts generally hold that states can’t make it too hard for serious candidates to get a place on the ballot, and that rule would easily apply to the eventual Democratic Party nominee.

In a handful of other states, including Washington state, there is a different ballot access timing issue that could trigger a lawsuit. (The issue is even more technical and has to do with an election administrator’s power to extend a legislative deadline in a presidential election.) For this reason, Democrats would be smart to still do that virtual roll call by Aug. 7 if they’ve coalesced around Vice President Kamala Harris or another candidate. That would avoid even the small risk of a serious lawsuit.

He goes on to discuss at length why their claims of this being undemocratic are so incredibly stupid. I honestly don’t think we even need to discuss it. Coming from these fascist insurrectionists it’s not even worth considering.

They will try, of course because they are shameless assholes. The whole point is to try and muddy the waters with yet another “I know you are but what am I?” piece of nonsense. It won’t work but their delusional cult followers won’t know the difference.

🥥🌴

The New Republic demystifies the Kamala Harris memes:

Many Harris fans have added the coconut and palm tree emojis to their social media handles, a shorthand for support. Her online supporters self-describe as “coconut-pilled,” much like people who fall down right-wing internet rabbit holes became known as “red-pilled.”

Knowledge of Harris and the coconut tree went from an internet joke to important context in the wake of President Joe Biden’s announcement that he would not seek reelection on Sunday and his endorsement of Harris moments later. Memes are important currency for the terminally online, a population largely comprised of young people who will not be reached by cable advertising or classic campaign mailers. In a political era built on vibes, internet jokes can be as significant as actual campaigning.

The coconut emoji references a now-infamous Harris quote that transformed from an ironic meme to an earnest display of support. In a speech in May last year, Harris quoted her mother. “My mother … would give us a hard time sometimes, and she would say to us, ‘I don’t know what’s wrong with you young people. You think you just fell out of a coconut tree?’” Harris said with a laugh. “You exist in the context of all in which you live and what came before you.” (The context of the comment—that she was quoting her mother—was lost when a clip of the speech went viral in February.)

The coconut reference is not the only time Harris has achieved meme fame. Another quote from her 2020 presidential campaign has taken on new life in recent weeks: “I can imagine what can be, unburdened by what has been.” Videos have sprouted on TikTok remixing her laugh to popular songs. One recent viral tweet remixed some of Harris’s most memorable quotes to a song by the pop singer Charli XCX. After Charli XCX wrote on X on Sunday that “Kamala IS brat,” a reference to her popular new album, the TikTok page for Harris’s campaign—recently rebranded from being the Biden campaign account—released a video alternating the tweet with “Kamala HQ,” with Charli’s song “Brat” playing in the background.

Brat summer is here https://t.co/8O3J468xXn

— ryan (@ryanlong03) July 21, 2024

“The thing about having a candidate people are excited about is that you can actually have fun and be creative on socials, because people are going to embrace it, rather than find it embarrassing,” said Annie Wu Henry, a digital strategist who has overseen social media for Democrats such as Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Senator John Fetterman. “People don’t want to feel bad about politics. They want to have fun, they want to enjoy, they want to be excited about a candidate. There can be creativity and community.”

I just met Henry over the weekend at a fundraiser in Raleigh. I hope she’s on the Harris payroll.

Also, “Donald Trump is the joke to young people,” said Marianna Pecora, the communications director for Voters of Tomorrow.

The Lincoln Project gets that too.

Make America Laugh Again pic.twitter.com/OslgHwlfeg

— The Lincoln Project (@ProjectLincoln) July 22, 2024

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For The Win, 5th Edition is ready for download. Request a copy of my free countywide GOTV planning guide at ForTheWin.us.

She’s got Trump’s number

How much was sheer dumb luck? Joe Biden might have held to his May 2020 promise to be a “transition” president and bowed out of the 2024 race last year. Democrats might have had a knock-down, drag-out primary season between members of its deep bench of next-generation leaders. The fights might have left the party embittered and weakened going into the fall campaign.

Yes, old party hands helped. They saw handwriting on the wall for the Biden candidacy and convinced him he had to bow out for the good of his party. In late July.

Somehow in spite of themselves, Democrats flipped the script (not in an Aaron Sorkin way) on the 2024 election and turned it from a contest between two, old white men with little curb appeal to one where an energetic, mixed-race, former-prosecutor Democrat faces an aged sexual predator, multiply indicted and convicted, a Republican with dreams of turning the United States into a dictatorship.

Within hours of Biden’s Sunday passing of the baton to his vice president, Kamala Harris, Democrats are unified and reenergized. Harris pulled in $81 million in donations in the first 24 hours, the largest one-day haul in presidential history, anecdotally, many from first-time donors. By Monday night, enough Democratic convention delegates had declared their support for Harris (nonbinding) to nominate her on their first August ballot.

All this without many a pundit’s wet-dream of “a contested convention, blitz primaries, and the like.” It’s not just Stephen Miller who has a sad.

“The first party to retire its 80-year-old candidate is going to be the one who wins this election,” former South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley predicted before Republican primary supporters in January.

Talk about dumb luck, a friend told me.

Now there is no joy in MAGAville. Republicans are stuck after massive investments of time and money into running against “Sleepy Joe” with having to rewrite their scripts for a race in which Donald Trump is the faltering old man in obvious decline, and still convicted and indicted. Team MAGA is in panicked disarray.

“I know Donald Trump’s type,” the former prosecutor told her campaign staff Monday afternoon to cheers.

That feeling when the backup QB enters the game and throws a 50-yard TD bomb https://t.co/FkkdEo2xBk

— Will Bunch (@Will_Bunch) July 22, 2024

Never Trumper George Conway reduced the current state of play to a simple formula:

I always thought this election is relatively simple. In 2016, Trump won because Hillary became the issue. In 2020, Trump was the incumbent and he was the issue because of his behavior, because of Clorox, because of everything. What happens this year is whoever becomes the issue loses. The problem we were having was that Biden was becoming the issue when Trump needs to be the issue. Now, Trump isn’t going to be able to avoid being the issue… Now, Trump is the old man in the race. Now, after having raised the issue of cognitive decline, he’s the only one that argument applies to.

Conway: I always thought this election is relatively simple. In 2016, Trump won because Hillary became the issue. In 2020, Trump was the incumbent and he was the issue because of his behavior, because of Clorox, because of everything. What happens this year is whoever becomes the… pic.twitter.com/rEi9OY59QZ

— Acyn (@Acyn) July 23, 2024

When Donald Trump spoke of American carnage, he wasn’t promising to fix it but to bring it.

Get back on offense, Democrats. Yes, sell the brownie. “Paint the beautiful tomorrow.” Young voters care about the cost of rents, groceries, and about student loans. Tout what Biden-Harris delivered and what more help is coming for them and their families. But also make Trump the issue. Make Project 2025 the issue. Make Republicans becoming an authoritarian cult bent on taking your freedoms the issue. Women’s freedoms especially, but everyone else’s too. Make what kind of future we want for our country the issue.

#ShesWithUs Now, go kick ass and take names.

🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸
Learn from mistakes.
Not "I'm with her".
It's SHE'S. WITH. US.#ShesWithUs#KHive pic.twitter.com/6uJ2vldadY

— @Markle Ω (@Mr_Webcast) July 21, 2024

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Thank you President Biden for your service to our country and for having the grace to usher in Kamala Harris to finish the job.

Harris went to campaign headquarters today.

Kamala Harris: ‘I took on perpetrators of all types … predators who abused women, fraudsters who ripped off consumers, cheaters who broke the rules for their own gain.

So hear me when I say, I know Donald Trump's type." pic.twitter.com/Z3iJaSLSbk

— philip lewis (@Phil_Lewis_) July 22, 2024

Yes.

The president called in and it was moving:

This is really nice (as always) from @JoeBiden https://t.co/FjvzrNjRYG

— Dan Pfeiffer (@danpfeiffer) July 22, 2024

Biden: I hope you give every bit of your heart and soul that you gave to me to Kamala. I want you to know, I won't be on the ticket, but I'm still going to be fully, fully engaged. I've got six months left to my presidency. I'm determined to get as much done.. pic.twitter.com/9CmcAoikWM

— Acyn (@Acyn) July 22, 2024

VP: And I know it's been a roller coaster and we're all filled with so many mixed emotions about this, I just have to say, I love Joe Biden. I love Joe Biden, and I know we all do. And we have so many darn good reasons for loving Joe Biden. pic.twitter.com/lWZPXT9uSH

— Acyn (@Acyn) July 22, 2024

JV Last at the Bulwark has some interesting thoughts on the events of the last day:

On the night of June 27, the various power centers within the Democratic party began a difficult conversation: Was Joe Biden still capable of running a vigorous campaign?

Over three weeks the party reached a diffuse—if not unanimous—consensus: He was not. This consensus was the product of all levels of the party: Elder statesmen such as Nancy Pelosi, elected Democrats analyzing their own future prospects, donors making decisions about spending, and the main body of public opinion among Democratic voters.

Once this consensus was reached, the various power centers began a dialogue with the party’s leader, President Biden. The party expressed its choice. Biden pushed back. The party took up the question again and, after due consideration, held firm.

Joe Biden then stepped aside for the good of the nation.

This is how healthy institutions are supposed to work.

[…]

He notes that the party vetted Harris over the three weeks of fretting, with voters, donors and elected Dems getting comfortable with the idea and when no anti-Harris movement surfaced they realized that she was the best candidate. In fact, the party is more unified than was before.

He makes the point that Harris has all the benefits of incumbency but can run as a change agent. That’s unusual and I think it’s a true advantage. Also, Trump now “holds the age bomb.” No one deserves it more.

Every split screen now makes Trump look old and decrepit by comparison.

He notes that since the announcement, Harris has raised over r $100 million from small-dollar donors And there’s news today that one of the big super pacs has also raised over $150 million, which means that the campaign has raised at least a quarter of a billion dollars in 24 hours. That suggests some very serious enthusiasm.

The Republicans are losing it, screeching about filing lawsuits to force Biden on to the ticket and other ridiculous tantrums.

Why? Last says this:

The Republican party is a failed state.

At the debate, Donald Trump also demonstrated (again) that he is unfit for office. He rambled and lied incoherently. He is a convicted felon. A jury found him guilty of sexual assault. He has said he wants to be a “dictator” and that he wants to “terminate” parts of the Constitution. He selected as his running mate a man who advised disobeying orders from the Supreme Court and forcing a constitutional crisis.

Until last week there was nothing stopping the Republican party from forcing Trump off the ticket. The party elders and elected officials could have demanded that Trump step aside. Republican voters could have said that they had no confidence in his ability to govern. Donors could have closed their wallets.

But the plain fact is that not one single Republican called on Trump to step aside.

Not one.

Why? Because the various precincts of the Republican party understand that they hold no power—at all—over Trump. They could not ask him to withdraw from the race. Even broaching the subject would be grounds for excommunication from the party.

The Democratic party is a functioning institution, with checks and balances; constituencies and power structures. Like any institution, it is amorphous and its decision making is mostly organic.

The Republican party is an autocracy where the only thing that matters is the will of the leader. All power flows through him. All decisions are made by him. There are no competing power centers—only vassal states overseen by his noblemen.

That’s right. And it’s one of those decrepit institutions that’s imploding from within. If we can keep them from power — again — it’s possible that it might just finally collapse and make way for something more normal. (Or not.)